


Belonging

by Wagnetic



Series: Tutelary AU [3]
Category: The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff
Genre: Domestic, Families of Choice, Multi, Tutelary AU, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-08 23:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12875304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wagnetic/pseuds/Wagnetic
Summary: Esca is happy with his odd little family





	Belonging

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thegirlwiththemouseyhair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwiththemouseyhair/gifts).



> Much thanks to Onceuponatmi for being a spectacular beta and to Sineala and Lysimache for teaching me about tutelaries!

“Esca,” Cottia said, “Do you come here and watch me darn this tunic. It is not fair to make me do all the mending, so you should learn how it is done.” As always, Cottia demanded rather than asked, and as always, Esca was surprised to find that it brought a smile to his face. It should have rankled to be ordered about after his years as a slave, but somehow Cottia’s imperiousness never stung him.

“Whatever the Lady Cottia wishes,” Esca said with a teasingly somber air. Cottia scowled at him as he came to stand at her side with Cingetissa at his heels.

“I am not a lady, and well you know it.”

“Yes,” Esca agreed, “the bruise on my side is proof enough.”

Cottia’s spirit, Aesu, rose from his sprawl on the floor beside the hearth to nip affectionately at Cingetissa’s unclipped ear.

“If you did not want bruises you should have refused to teach me to fight,” Cottia said.

“Not a lady then. A warrior queen, perhaps?” Cottia tilted her head up proudly and smiled at Esca.

“That will do.”

“It suits you well, O Queen,” Marcus said from the doorway, and Cottia and Esca both turned to face him.

“You sneak up on us like a hunter!” Cottia exclaimed.

“I am as adept a hunter as Esca now,” Marcus said, then amended, “nearly,” seeing the look Esca shot his way. But it was not the boast that startled Esca. Esca did not make a habit of tailoring his words to suit Marcus’s sensibilities, but he would not have spoken so lightly of Iceni warrior queens had he known Marcus was there. Marcus showed no sign of distress, however, and his spirit laughed from her perch on Marcus’s shoulder.

Marcus’s spirit, who made a habit of speaking to him loudly when it amused her for others to overhear, said, “You have a long way to go before you can surpass Esca and Cingetissa.” She fluttered away from Marcus to land on Cingetissa’s head and groom her shaggy coat.

“Don’t listen to her,” Cottia said. “You learn well… for a Roman.”

“You are unkind to me, little vixen!” Marcus cried. He sank into the chair next to Cottia’s, careful not to trip over the pile of spirits as he went. He sighed at the warmth of the hearth and began to rub his thigh with a wince. “Mithras, but your British winters are cold.”

“You may adjust to it in time,” Esca said. “You are resourceful, my Marcus.” Marcus gave him the sweet, almost surprised smile that always came to his face at the use of endearments, but the smile was soon overtaken with another wince. “Here, let me help you.” Marcus had long since ceased to protest when Esca offered to tend to his leg, though he was still wary of letting Cottia care for him this way. She bore it with good grace in a way that was quite unusual for her, Esca thought, though he could tell it saddened her when her husband refused her help.

Aesu shook himself and rose, standing to brace against Marcus’s good leg, and Marcus smiled down appreciatively and stroked his head. Out of the corner of his eye, Esca saw that Cottia still flushed when Marcus touched her spirit, and he felt a rush of affection for the two of them. They’d been married for the better part of a year and yet they were still oddly shy in some ways, for two such bold people. Esca bent to kiss Cottia’s cheek and enjoy how her hands stroked through his hair before he came to kneel in front of Marcus and knead the muscles of his thigh.

In the time before he knew Marcus, Esca would never believed that someday he would be happy to serve a Roman. The very idea would have disgusted him. But just as Esca was amused by Cottia’s commands, he was pleased to serve as Marcus’s armour-bearer. Neither of them would claim that he belonged to them except in the ways that they belonged to him, and to one another.

Esca could feel Cottia’s gaze on him and Marcus, knew that she was pleased to see them together, and it only added to his sense of satisfaction. Once he had thought she might have been jealous of him and Marcus— of the closeness they had shared without her on their hunt for the Eagle. Now, Esca knew better. He had asked her, and while she admitted she did envy them the freedom to cross the wall, she was glad for what they had shared, as Esca was glad of Cottia’s bond with Marcus. “Esca,” she had said, “You are a fool. Do you think I am so childish that I would dislike seeing you content?”

Marcus let out an undignified, pleased noise as the knots in his muscles began to ease, and Cottia laughed to hear it, and Esca was far more than content.


End file.
